Today at 2:00 PM • Updated today at 2:21 PM
The zebra finch that was left in a cage on a street in Oss last week heralds the ‘dumping season’. The bird was taken in by De Maashorst Animal Shelter. According to chairman Sharon van Offeren, the ‘dump season’ starts around May and ends in early August. “Every year we see more dumped animals during this period.”
The dumped bird is exemplary of what Sharon (31) has been seeing for five years as chairman of the shelter in Zeeland. “After corona, we experienced a huge peak in the number of dumped animals,” says Sharon. “After that, that number fell, but never dropped as much as before the corona period.”
The fact that this case involves a bird is typical of animal dumping, says Sharon. “Many people think of kittens in a box or a dog on a tree as dumped animals, but the vast majority of dumped animals are birds and rodents, such as rabbits and guinea pigs.”
In the coming months, Sharon expects to receive between fifty and a hundred dumped animals every month. She does not know why this number increases every year. “It is now clear who owned the zebra finch, but we do not know who owned most of the animals.”
In addition, some animals may not have been dumped, but escaped. Those owners have not bothered to go to a shelter or at internet to search for them pet found is.
“A mandatory course before purchasing a pet would prevent impulse purchases.”
What does not help to reduce the number of animals that are put aside is the ease with which birds and rodents in particular can be purchased. “In Switzerland you must first successfully complete an online course before you can buy an animal,” says the chairman of the animal shelter. “I don’t see that happening here anytime soon, but it would be a welcome threshold to avoid impulse purchases.”
What Sharon also finds difficult is that guinea pigs are offered for five euros on Marktplaats. “Then they often take two, because they like to live in groups. Before they know it, they have a litter. And what then? Rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs often end up over the fence at the petting zoo. Or even worse: they are left ‘free’ outside. They usually do not survive the latter.”
“I have thousands of ideas to tackle animal suffering.”
“For us, a castrated guinea pig with vaccination costs a hundred euros,” Sharon continues. “That’s a bargain, because castration costs 120 euros and a vaccination costs 40 euros. But yes, we can’t compete with those five euros.”
Anyone who thinks that Sharon’s courage is failing is wrong. It actually makes her extra driven. “I still have a thousand ideas and plans to tackle animal suffering.”
She even has wild plans for the future. “In three years’ time there will be a new animal shelter where wildlife will also be cared for. Think of birds that have been hit by a car or deer. But these animals now first go to Den Bosch and then end up in Someren. That’s two moves, quite a lot for vulnerable animals.”
“When you get to know people, you start to love animals.”
She also wants to build an animal boarding house next to this shelter so that she can make profitable what she now does voluntarily together with 6 board members and 25 animal lovers. The spirit is still very much present despite or perhaps because of the confrontation with all the animal suffering. “As a result, I have accepted a wisdom in my heart: ‘If you get to know people, you will love animals’.”
